A Columbia University junior who was arrested during an anti-Israel protest earlier this month is currently facing deportation to stop President Trump and other high-ranking officials from abandoning her on Monday.
Immigration authorities are attempting to deport 21-year-old Yoon Zeo Chung, who moved to the US from South Korea with his family nearly 15 years ago.
Chung, a legal permanent resident and who has called the United States home since he was seven years old, had no federal custody as of Monday. Her lawyers did not tell the New York Times where she was now besides confirming that she was still in the country.
The university student apparently landed on the federal radar after she and other students were arrested on March 5th in Bernard's Academic Building, and arrested by a Columbia university in protest against the punishment for protesting anti-Israel agitators.
She was charged with obstruction of government administration and issued a desk appearance ticket by the NYPD.
A few days later, an agent from the Department of Homeland Security visited the home of Chung's parents searching for her when federal agents contacted students via text message, according to a lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court.
When a lawyer representing Chung contacted the agent, she was told that the State Department had revoked Chung's legal status and had an executive warrant for her arrest, the legal documents state.
The lawsuit also revealed that her dorm is among two Columbia-owned residences that were attacked by federal law enforcement on March 13th. Katrina Armstrong interim president said she was “grief.”
Jung's legal team argued that the actions of the Trump administration were an attempt to “chill” her freedom of speech.
“The government's retaliation against Mr. Chan comes in a broader context of retaliation against other non-citizens who exercised their First Amendment rights,” her legal team argued.
“The highest level of the federal government officials have made it clear that they intend to use immigration enforcement to speak out in favor of the rights of Palestinians and Palestinians and to punish non-citizens who are perceived to engage in such speeches.”
A spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security told Times Chong “he engaged in the act, including when she was arrested by the NYPD during a pro-Hamas protest at Bernard University. She is being asked to undergo removal procedures under the Immigration Act.”
A small number of anti-Israel demonstrators face the possibility of deportation. Most notably, Mahmoud Halil, a former Colombian student who was in the centre and at the centre during a tense protest at an elite school last year.
Halil, who arrived in the United States to earn his master's degree in 2022, initially had a student visa before becoming a permanent resident two years later.
He was taken into custody on March 8th and is currently in custody at a Louisiana facility, with his lawyers and the federal government clashing with his future.
Chong faced school disciplinary proceedings last year after the Colombian councillors plastered a poster saying they were “seeking genocide accomplice,” but the school ultimately realized she was not violating the rules.
The lawsuit, which also lists Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Attorney General Pamela Bondy, Homeland Security Secretary Christie Noem and other Trump officials, asks judges to abolish government's deportation and protect her from arrest during that time.
The post has been seeking comment from the State Department, the Attorney General's Office and the Department of Homeland Security.
